HARDCORE RAVE - BACK TO THE OLD SKOOL!
A GREAT ARCHIVE OF RAVE TAPES FROM THE MID 90S CAN BE FOUND HERE
RAVE TAPES
FROM A GREAT ARTICLE ABOUT THE SOUND OF LONDON RAVE
It was the sound of London when I was doing my GCSEs," says 31-year-old Mike Finch. "I remember in 1994 and '95 you would walk down Oxford Street and the stalls there would all have jungle playing; that ragga sound. It was there in the air anyway, and all you needed was a little radio to tune in." In many ways, Finch is not unusual – a rave everyman who had his life changed for ever by the music of the pirate radio stations. What makes him different is that the legacy he carries with him is also a tangible one: Finch has what must be Britain's largest archive of 90s pirate radio tapes. It's a combination of thousands of home-recorded C90 cassettes, and hundreds of "tape packs", the semi-official collections of recordings of major jungle, drum'n'bass, happy hardcore, garage and grime raves. It's music that scarcely exists in any industry-recognised recorded form.
Now a new documentary, Finch's old friend and raving buddy, charts this remarkable obsession. captivating viewing to which a mere description can't do justice: for 80 minutes, Jackson interviews his friend as he goes through his favourite tapes, talking us through the different stations, sub-genres, DJs and MCs, even his favourite brand of TDK cassettes – grinning broadly throughout. His enthusiasm is infectious, and in person he is no different. These days he's a father and has a job that demands he wear a suit, but as we spend an hour in a north London beer garden chewing over the British rave music of the 90s and early 2000s, there's no sad-eyed nostalgia or desire to claw back lost youth – just a beaming recognition of how "completely brilliant" it all was.
NOSTALGIA
when I was growing up my parents always played the prodigy and nine inch nails in the car.
it spawned in me a love of electronic music from the early to mid 90s.
not even sure my parents understood.
in the past few years, I was able to obtain almost every early rave record I could have ever wanted.
early rave vinyl and tape is about the only thing many have left of a distinct time period that is gone.
i wanted to formulate a unique take on this sound, something I never experienced, only listened to througt the fake nostalgia of the original tunes.
TOMBS is that project, and the beginning of many more to come like it.
it's not meant to sound modern or compete with dance music trends, its a rememberance of a time gone by.
Dusty, warped, nostalgic.
a walk home at 4AM after a long night in an open field.
GO TO TOMBS.
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